Divine Love

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Thursday, 27 March 2014 : 3rd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters, today we learn again another lesson, as Jesus went around to teach the people of God, that we must not be doubtful in our hearts and even more importantly, we should not be quick to cast baseless accusations, especially if they are made out of poor judgment and idea on our side.

It was truly horrifying to see how the people of God, who had been graced with the presence and witnessing the Lord Himself in action, could ever condemn and criticise Him by saying that what great deeds He had done, was done by the power of the evil one and the other spirits.

They saw the miracles performed by Jesus, and all the things He had done, and yet they refused to believe, and all the teachings that Jesus had made, should all have been very clear to them, showing them the true nature of God’s laws and ways. This is because of their hardened heart, which they kept indignantly even against the love God had shown for them.

The same can be compared to how their ancestors behaved in the desert, the same generation of people who saw the Lord doing great deeds in bringing the Ten plagues to crush the Egyptians and liberate them from their slavery. They also witnessed how God split open the sea to let them pass and pour the waters over their enemies. They received even food from heaven and crystal clear, sweet water from the rocks, and yet they complained and complained.

These people were so stubborn because they did not keep the Lord in their heart but Satan! They were so influenced by the things of the world that instead of thanking God for His very obvious guidance and kindness along the way, they dared to say things such as life was better in Egypt, with food and drinks, even though they were in slavery! What they thought are in the realm of human greed and desire, that nothing God gave them is likely to be ever enough.

The same therefore happened to the people at the time of Jesus, as there were many factions, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, and many others, including the common people. These people were obsessed with power and the influence they had on the people, and they were loath to give them up or even share them with someone who is technically an outsider, like Jesus.

Jesus showed them that their stubbornness and hard-heartedness ought to be taught a lesson, that they should not be so stone hearted as if to defy the works of the Lord, putting obstacles in His way, and worse still, blaspheming against God through their indignant attitude, calling the work of God as the work of Satan.

Shall we also be like them? Shall we be indignant and refuse to listen to the Lord because of our own human interests, and greed for power? If we do so, then we will have no part in the salvation offered by the Lord. We have to cast out our pride and our greed, especially for power, that we may lower ourselves and understand what God has given us, in Jesus, His Son, the manifestation of His everlasting love.

May the Lord open our hearts, and help us to understand better His love, that we too may love Him the same way. Let us all devote ourselves more to the Lord, and promise Him that we will stay forever loyal and faithful, no matter what. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 39 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

As the scroll says of me, to do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your Law is within my heart.”

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

I have not locked up in my heart Your saving help, but have spoken about it – Your deliverance and Your faithfulness. I have made no secret of Your truth and of Your kindness in the great assembly.

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Saturday, 22 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Today we heard the well-known parable of the prodigal son, which I am certain that at some point of your life, you have heard it at least once. In this parable, God is compared to a loving and forgiving father, whose younger son had gone wayward and lost, and when that son returned to him, the father rejoiced and welcomed him back with full of love.

And indeed our God is like that, and He is indeed our Father, who loves us and cares for us, whose thoughts are centred ever on us every day and every moment in time. He looks always onto us, and wants us to be once again reunited with Him. And we are the prodigal sons, and also like the elder son of the father.

For we all have sinned before God, and committing what is evil in His eyes, and very often in our lives, we have disobeyed His law and His will, and instead following our own desires and our own forged path, which we built on our desires as well as on the foundations laid down by Satan. We were corrupted by the world and brought away from the way of truth.

It is easy for us to relate with the younger son, for we know that in this world, there are plenty and indeed almost limitless availability for human pleasures and goodness to satisfy our desires and our greed for such things. And that was exactly what happened to the younger son, who squandered the hard-earned wealth of his father, which was his inheritance, on loose living.

I am sure that in one way or another, this also happened to us. We gave in to the increasingly aggressive world, which indeed increases its attacks on us and our faithful living, by multiplying the number of pleasures and goodness that it tries to bring to us, seducing us to a lifestyle that is signified by excessive consumption and blatant disobedience of God’s will.

In this world, it is increasingly difficult for us to live without being bombarded daily by the increasing amount of advertisements and promotions on the good things of this world, the amenities and joys of life, all the components of a materialistic and hedonistic lifestyle. How many of us are not aware of the offers on the latest gadgets and jewelries? How many of us are not aware of the lucrative deals being offered?

But the key message that we ought to know today is that, regardless of all these, we all have hope, because God who is our Father is always waiting for us, like the father of the prodigal son, ever eager to see his long lost son to return to his side. The prodigal and sinful son realised that he had sinned against God and his father, by committing all that he had done. And this is indeed a very important moment that we all have to note.

It is this realisation, and coupled by the desire to return to his father, which propelled the prodigal son on his difficult journey home, to return to the love of his father. But had the son not realised his sinfulness, even in his difficult times, he would just be dead in that foreign land, and his death would not have been mourned by any. He would have died among the animals, without honour and be shamed forever in darkness.

The same therefore will happen to us, if we do not realise the depth and gravity of our sins, and if we continue to walk in the path of the wicked, following our hearts’s desire rather than following the Lord our God. We will suffer for eternity in shame, regret and hopelessness in hell, where there will be no light, no pleasure, and no happiness but only sorrow, regret and darkness.

So it is important for us to realise our sins, know them, and seek God for absolution and forgiveness, humbly asking Him to forgive us and promise to change our ways and sin no more, just as the prodigal son sought the forgiveness of his father, and then be received back into the fullness of love that his father has prepared for him, which God too had prepared for us.

And lastly, we who have been saved by our baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, are also like the elder son. We have been deemed as righteous and we remain in the house of the father, God our Father because of our faith in His Son. But that does not mean that we have the right to condemn all those who are still wayward. Remember that we are all sinners who still need to be saved by the grace of God through our actions.

Instead, let us help one another, especially those who are still in the darkness. Let us bring them to the light of God, by showing it through our own deeds and actions, that they may believe in us, children of the light, that they too will follow our path, to become children of God.

May our Lord who loves us, and who forgives and welcomes His prodigal sons back to His side, continue to love us, watch over us, and guide us that we may always walk righteously and faithfully on His path. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

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Wednesday, 19 March 2014 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Romans 4 : 13, 16-18, 22

If God promised Abraham, or rather his descendants, that the world would belong to him, this was not because of his obeying the Law, but because he was just and a friend of God through faith.

For that reason, faith is the way and all is given by grace; and the promises of Abraham are fulfilled for all his descendants, not only for his children according to the Law, but also for all the others who have believed.

Abraham is the father of all of us, as it is written : I will make you father of many nations. He is our father in the eyes of Him who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence what does not yet exist, for this is the God in whom he believed.

Abraham believed and hoped against all expectation, thus becoming father of many nations, as he had been told : See how many will be your descendants. This was taken into account for him to attain righteousness.

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Tuesday, 18 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Brothers and sisters, humility and love are the two most important aspects of our faith, which we should always keep in mind, especially as we live in this world. We must always be humble, before God and men, and be loving to our brethren, to our neighbours, and ultimately towards God.

We are all sinners, equal before the eyes of God, that is why we should not exalt ourselves or trumpet our achievements before us. We should come to a full realisation of the full extent and gravity of our sins and faults, that we may move towards doing something to change that and make ourselves once again worthy of the Lord our God.

It is not easy to be humble, brethren, because especially the greater we are, the more things that we possess in our lives, and the more affluent and influential we are in our society, there are more and more things that can prevent us from showing humility, not only before men, but also before God.

It is natural for us to boast about what is great about us, and to flaunt whatever we possess, be it wealth, influence, or power. And if we do so, it becomes a vicious cycle. By showing off our power and greatness, we are likely to be praised for it, and therefore, we will be even more eager to show more of our power, and to gain more of it.

And it is this pursuit of more power, wealth, greatness and other things that often likely to keep us away from the path of the Lord, that we no longer walk in His path, but following our own path, that will end in destruction for us. That was why Jesus emphasised to us using the examples of the Pharisees and the chief priests, for us not to be tainted and taken over by the corrupting power of desire and human greed.

For the Pharisees liked to boast their piety, in their observation of the law and the strict guidelines they themselves had established. They liked to show off their piety and teaching authority to others, whom they deemed to be inferior to themselves. They have made themselves to be a caste and a group on its own, whom they themselves deemed to be righteous and holy.

The Pharisees acted as if they were the righteous and the just, even to the point of condemning others whom they deemed as sinners and unworthy people. But they themselves had sin inside them, and even a greater sin because they not only failed to recognise their own sins, but they also condemn others for their sins, thinking in their pride, that they are better than them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Pharisees showed us the example of how we should not be in our faith. We cannot be judgmental and critical of others, not least if we cannot be critical of ourselves. We should instead follow the example of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Cyril was the bishop of Jerusalem, who was renowned for his great charitable works for the poor, who sold even imperial gifts to the Church to help them.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem was truly devoted to the Lord, and he showed that not just in his charity acts and love for the people of God, but also in his numerous writings in which He described the Lord and His love, and in the nature of Jesus and His salvation, which helped many to understand better about the faith.

You all now see the contrast between them, so let us all seek to renew and strengthen our faith. Let us be beacons of light for one another, guiding our ways as we reach out to the Lord. May God also help us on our way, that we may be with Him at the end of all, and not fall along the way to the temptation of power and worldly corruptions. Amen.

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Monday, 17 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Patrick, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 78 : 8, 9, 11 and 13

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us for the sake of Your Name.

Listen to the groans of the prisoners; by the strength of Your arm, deliver those doomed to die. Then we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture, will thank you forever. We will recount Your praise from generation to generation.

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Monday, 17 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Patrick, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 9 : 4b-10

Lord God, great and to be feared, You keep Your Covenant and love for those who love You and observe Your commandments. We have sinned, we have not been just, we have been rebels, and have turned away from Your commandments and laws.

We have not listened to Your servants, the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our kings, leaders, fathers and to all the people of the land. Lord, justice is Yours, but ours is a face full of shame, as it is to this day – we; the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in all the lands where you have dispersed us because of the infidelity we have committed against You.

Ours is the shame, o Lord for we, our kings, princes, fathers, have sinned against You. We hope for pardon and mercy from the Lord, because we have rebelled against Him. We have not listened to the voice of YHVH, our God, or followed the laws which He has given us through His servants, the prophets.

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Sunday, 16 March 2014 : 2nd Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Timothy 1 : 8b-10

On the contrary, do your share in labouring for the Gospel with the strength of God. He saved us and called us – a calling which proceeds from His holiness. This did not depend on our merits, but on His generosity and His own initiative.

This calling given to us from all time in Christ Jesus has just been manifested with the glorious appearance of Christ Jesus, our Lord, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light in His Gospel.

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Sunday, 16 March 2014 : 2nd Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 32 : 4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22

For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. O Lord, let Your love rest upon us, even as our hope rests in You.